Recent
Research on Recovery from
Schizophrenia Suggests that
Nonduality is the Key to Making
Sense of These Disorders

Dr. Paris
Williams, known for his groundbreaking
research on people who have made full
medication-free recoveries from
schizophrenia (as mentioned in the New
York Times), has just released a
book, Rethinking Madness, that
presents a serious challenge to the
mainstream understanding and treatment
of schizophrenia and other psychotic
disorders.

In Rethinking
Madness, Williams documents how
the recent domestic and international
research (including studies conducted
by the World Health Organization and
the National Institute of Mental
Health) suggests that full
medication-free recovery from
schizophrenia and other related
psychotic disorders is not only
possible, but may actually be the most
likely outcome given the right
conditions. Furthermore, the findings
from WilliamsГвЂ own research
suggest that many individuals who
recover do not simply return to their
pre-psychotic condition, but actually
undergo a profound positive
transformation resulting in a sense of
wellbeing and life competence that far
exceeds that which existed prior to
their psychosis.

All of these
findings fly directly in the face of
the mainstream understanding of
schizophrenia and psychosis, so
itГвЂs not surprising that as these
research findings continue to emerge,
we see the first stirrings of a fiery
controversy that may very well
continue to escalate until we are
forced to consider a radical
restructuring of the mental health
care system and indeed the very
foundation of our understanding of
madness. In Rethinking Madness,
Williams takes the plunge directly
into the heart of this controversial
topic. He begins by disentangling the
complex web of research on
schizophrenia, attempting to make
sense of how it is that the mainstream
understanding of schizophrenia has
become so profoundly mistaken. He then
goes about crafting an altogether new
vision of madnessГвЂone that brings
in the latest recovery research and
integrates both Eastern and Western
understandings of the mind to make
sense of the findings of the emerging
research.

As this new
vision unfolds, Williams suggests that
we arrive at both some unsettling
realizations and some very hopeful
possibilities. On one hand, we are
forced to recognize that our current
mainstream paradigm of care may
actually be causing more harm than
benefit, both for those so diagnosed
and also for their friends, family
members, and society at large. On the
other hand, we discover that those who
find themselves struggling with these
challenging disorders have a very high
likelihood of moving on to meaningful
and productive lives.

Finally, in a
compelling twist, we discover that
those we often consider to be
ГвЂњmadГвЂќ may very well be caught
in a profound wrestling match with the
very same core existential dilemmas
with which we all struggle. Williams
suggests that the real key to
understanding these vexing experiences
comes not from the findings of the
latest brain research, but rather from
the findings of human consciousness
that have arisen from many years of
introspective inquiry into the deepest
layers of human
experienceГвЂfindings that have
arisen from the Western existential
movement over the past couple hundred
years as well as findings that have
arisen from thousands of years of such
inquiry within the nondual traditions
of the EastГвЂparticularly Buddhism,
Taoism, and Advaita Vedanta.

Rethinking
Madness (SkyГвЂs
Edge Publishing) is available through
Amazon.com and other channels. More
information is available at www.RethinkingMadness.com

Dr. Paris
Williams works as a psychologist
in the San Francisco Bay Area. He
offers the rare perspective of
someone who has experienced
psychosis from both sidesГвЂas a
researcher and psychologist, and
as someone who has himself fully
recovered after struggling with
psychotic experiences. He can be
reached at www.RethinkingMadness.com

В

В

The
Netherlands: Tulips in the polder.
Photo and poem by Anamika

Its not the words

Dullness after waking up,
as the nightshift is in full
swing.
Cars are passing by the canal in
front of the house.
A neighbour next door is talking
to someone,
slams her door and runs down the
stairs.
There is still daylight and i get
ready for my shift.

A interview was done a
few days ago,В В it was
unprepared,
spontaneous.В The first
interview on this subject.
And the recognition that this
aware space which is our
home,В our being,В our
normal day to day awareness with
all
that takes place becomes more
alive,В happy,В
flowing once
one talks about it.
As soon as you open your mouth and
try to talk about the unspeakable
there is something of That which
comes through.
It makes one happy to talk about
it.В В It makes people
happy to see it.
Not because of the words,В
it is because of the energy coming
through.В В The
resonance.
That is why teachers talk,В
and people go to satsangs and
workshops.
To get hit by the infinite

The most beautiful
people are those who have known defeat, known
suffering,
known struggle, known loss, and have found
their way out of the depths. These
persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity,
and an understanding of life that
fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a
deep loving concern.В

В

~ Elisabeth
KГѓВјbler-Ross

В

В

Гўв¬ЕI greet you
from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and shattered
It will reach you everywhere.Гўв¬Вќ

If you really
look, you wonГўв¬вўt find anything tangible
and solid. Of course, you
might find something very solid if you have a
grudge against someone or you
have fallen possessively in love.

В

But that is not
awakened heart. If you search for awakened
heart, if you put
your hand through your rib cage and feel for
it, there is nothing there except
for tenderness. You feel sore and soft, and if
you open your eyes to the rest
of the world, you feel tremendous sadness.
This kind of sadness doesnГўв¬вўt come
from being mistreated. You donГўв¬вўt feel
sad because someone has insulted you or
because you feel impoverished. Rather, this
experience of sadness is
unconditioned. It occurs because your heart is
completely exposed. There is
no skin or tissue covering it; it is pure raw
meat. Even if a tiny mosquito lands
on it, you feel so touched. Your experience is
raw and tender and so personal.

В

For the warrior,
this experience of sad and tender heart is
what gives birth
to fearlessness. Conventionally, being
fearless means that you are not afraid
or that, if someone hits you, you will hit him
back. However, we are not talking
about that street-fighter level of
fearlessness.

В

Real fearlessness
is the product of tenderness.

В

You are willing to
open up, without resistance or shyness, and
face the world.Гўв¬Вќ

В

~ Chogyam Trungpa
Rinpoche

В

В From the
book, 'Sacred Path of the Warrior,' published
by Shambhala Books.

В via Daily
Dharma

В

В

В

В

Is That So?

В

"...well if I'm
awareness, then I wouldn't be [insert
unacceptable experience
here]."

В

Does this sound
familiar? Yes. This is a veeerry common
misconception
amongst spiritual seekers, based entirely on
what beliefs are being held about
what awareness is supposed to look
like.В

В

Here, though, the
most critical error occurs right in the second
word: "If." If
I am awareness.

В

Hmm.

В

*** Tell me what
else you could possibly be, given that
WHATEVER you say
is something that you have to be aware of?!
***

В

Okay. Moving on.

В

Now that you know
your bottom-line, default, who-you-really-are,
must be
what is *aware,* then who is it to say you
shouldn't feel crabby, miserable,
pissed-off; in other words, that you should
never experience any kind of
resistance to anything?

В

Please. If there
is anything that can make me crabby, it is
seeing someone who
is totally pissed-off or miserable, but is
denying it because they're
"awareness."

В

The fact is, when
you know without a doubt that an illusion is
an illusion, then
you have no fear whatsoever about letting it
have its moment of glory in the
sun.В

В

An illusion, seen
for what it is, cannot hurt anyone. So who
cares?

В

When you STAND AS
THE SUN, it matters not what kind of cloud
passes by,
because you know all you have to do is look at
it long enough and then it's
gone.

В

The stronger your
light, the shorter it lingers. Including the
cloud that says,
"See? I wouldn't be having this experience if
I was awareness."

SF is too much traffic.
Do they have a bakery with sour dough bread?
They have a French Bakery here and if you
close your eyes and click your heels together
two times you can almost taste the sour dough!
Turkey breast with Swiss cheese and alfalfa
sprouts and avocado.....yum! Can't wait.

В

Carl

В

Robert V. Burke
wrote:

В

Dear Carl (and friends),

В

Sour dough is as ubiquitous as water here,
well maybe as ubiquitous as post office boxes
in any urban area.

В

Every store, every shop has some brand of sour
dough.В I don't think I can recall
trying Boudin's sour dough, though my
curiosity was piqued when I saw a documentary
on Boudin's years ago, and found out the
starter dough is actually an organic
continuation of the first starter yeast
brought to this continent, from France, I
presume, but then again, maybe Italy?

В

Speaking of trans-planting 'cultures'--pun
intended, yes, here's an interesting piece I'm
reading in Raimundo Panikkar's tome The Vedic
experience: Mantramanjari -- An Anthology of
the Vedas for Modern Man and Contemporary
Celebration.В Panikkar was a Roman
Catholic Priest and had several PhDs: one in
Philosophy, another in Chemistry, both from
the Universidad de Madrid, and a Doctorate in
Theology from the Pontifical Lateran
University in Rome.В He also attended
universities in Bonn, Germany and Barcelona,
Spain.

В

He died last year living 91 years shy of 92 by
two months.

В

Dr. Sharma and I are going for 100, but
I'mВ gonna need to shape up to live up
to this prophecy.В After all, my
daughter Stephanie said in my arms, and quite
confidently, emboldened and embodying a canny
certainty, "Dad your gonna live to 100 years."
To which I quipped spontaneously, "Is that
so?" and she parried, her repartee lightning
fast, "Yes, and I'm going to live to 114
years!"В She was waking up in my arms,
these words flowing out of the realm of
unconscious dreams.В Who is to say it
was not the Self speaking thru this precocious
6 year old?В В Or is it just an old
man's dream?

В

In the following selection Panikkar discusses
some of the subtleties that address just one
of the problems of translation, a notion we
used spontaneously at the dinner table in
France.В I remember you complaining at
our family dinner, mid-fifties in Bois-le-Roi,
France, because you couldn't follow us in the
English, so you let out a cry "Say it in
French, say it in French, I don't
understand!!!"В Given the complexities
of human relationships and dynamics, I am
grateful for in stumbling upon these
selections for disclosing unarticulated
inspirations in my heart why I treasure ritual
and mythology as expressions of our noble
nature:

В

The problem of translation, however, has
another facet.В Nearly all Western
languages, including English, have been molded
by the Jewish-Helleno-Christian tradition
against a Gothic, Celtic, or other indigenous
background.В We may translate Agni as
'Lord' in order not to mislead the reader or
we may write down 'Fire'; in both instances
(in spite of the capital letter) the
translation is perhaps legitimate, provided
that the reader is informed of the original
word.В But if we translate gandharva by
'angel' or apsaras by 'spirit,' are we not
utilizing equally religion-bound
concepts?В Are we not saying that the
English language is indefectibly bound to one
particular tradition? We could speak of 'the
good fortune of having been invited to a
certain inauguration,' but would it be proper
to translate this statement as 'we have been
summoned by the grace of Lakshmi to a certain
function performed according to the shastric
principles laid down by a pandit, after
recognition of the mangalic moments disclosed
by the flying birds'? (Panikkar, The Vedic
Experience, pp. 22-23)

В

This reminds me of George's story of two of
his students from Japan, one translating to
the other from the English into the Japanese,
having been given it in English unbeknownst to
the other, the colloquialism 'out of sight,
out of mind'; and when requested of the other,
he rendered the Japanese translation back into
the English: 'to be invisible, is to be
crazy.'В Panikkar continues in this
vein:

В

Why should the augur, the Roman religious
official, and the goddess Fortune be accepted
as universalized terms and not the Indian
terminology? To reply that nobody will
understand the latter sentence deserves only
the answer that outside the Western cultural
milieu everybody will half understand the
former, or else they will reduce it to
banality. (Panikkar p. 23)

В

I emphasize that Panikkar reminds us in his
Vedic Epiphany the reason why I have been
having great difficulty finding a contemporary
translation and commentary on the Rig
Veda.В It is much needed in these times,
where decadence and greed have supplanted
virtues in almost all corners of the Earth,
and Man is rapidly descending into sloppy
troughs of his own pollution.В Even
India is losing grip of its rich heritage,
while many in the West are thirsting for Its
wisdom.В The challenge is great, I hope
to see the inauguration and dawning of
Lakshmi's grace, the auger's
inauguration.В I am happy to say I have
found 'meaning' I've only intuited in 20 years
chanting the Vedic Fire ceremony, though
sporadically.В Yet, once a week
replenishes the soul to surfeit.В
Panikkar makes and sets the epistemological
positionality within the field of the ritual
where words and meanings intersect.В

В

В

В

The process of translation is not only
transcultural.В It begins within a
particular culture.В The work of the
great bhashyakaras or commentators consist
precisely of such translations, including the
translation of the proper names of the
tradition itself.В When those names
cease to stand for a living symbol within a
'lived' myth, they are 'trans-lated,' that is,
'shifted,' so as to designate hence-forward
the same 'reality' but beyond its proper or
native horizon.В Ushas, for example, may
no longer be considered the daughter of
Prajapati, the Goddess of the myth, but simply
Dawn, or perhaps only dawn.В Yet by this
very shift Ushas has arrived where the dawn
still dawns but where the daughter of
Prajapati is no longer known or acknowledged
and, having traveled to such distant shores,
she herself will perhaps help see to it that
our dullness of perception is removed and that
dawn is reinstated in a more colorful and
relevant form, not perhaps as the daughter of
Prajapati but certainly as Dawn, as a symbol
of hope, in our contemporary world.В
Furthermore, the connection between words and
meanings is to be sought in the sphere of
rite, and that is why Man cannot live without
rituals, for he cannot live without words
either.

В

This reminds me of Nisargadatta's enlightened
recapitulation of the four stages of
speech--pashyanti, madhyama, vaikhari, and
para--wherein he touches on these 'names' of
prana by means of answering a questioner's
notion on reincarnation.В В Maharaj
elaborates inВ The Ultimate Medicine:

В

Questioner:В Does the physical death
means [sic] the end of the life force? If yes,
is there no truth in the theory of rebirth?

В

Maharaj:В The four kinds of speech,
para, pashyanti, madhyama and vaikhari, are
the names of the vital breath (prana).В
Ordinarily, an individual is not aware of para
and pashyanti.В These two are too
subtle, too basic and too deep for him to
understand.В So he starts working on the
third one, madhyama, which is also identified
with the mind and comes out the words, and the
fourth stage which is called vaikhari.В
Now on this level of two minds, two kinds of
speech, every ignorant (not aware of one's
true Self, but rather falsely identified with
the body and mind) works. And he has his own
image made out of that madhyama, which is
mind.В If he is ignorant and has not
understood this secret of the Universe, he
will certainly talk about rebirth, birth and
other ideas, concepts with which he has
identified himself. Therefore, all these ideas
and concepts of rebirth are for the ignorant.
Otherwise, there is nothing. (reminds me of
guruji's oft said 'Otherwise, not!') p.49

В

Well Carl, from Sour Dough, to the root of it
all, the Mooladhara, to the playing field of
the vital forces, the pranas of expression,
from breathing life into ancient meanings,
bringing meaning to life in contemporary
times, perhaps a proviso or auguration, your
correspondence as always inspires Ushas
blessing of hope for us, gives meaning of
language and ritual, keeping language fresh
and meaningful, and hopefully someday soon
dawns, inspiration to bring the vast treasures
of vedic lore as an infusion of renaissance of
the spirit and culture of humanity.

Ego says it matters, the Supreme says
that it does not. Even the power of decision
is not from ego. All is the Supreme Power,
do not attribute it to anything else because
this only reinforces the ghosts.

Face the One.

- Papaji from The Truth Is, posted to
AlongTheWay

Great knowledge sees all in one.
Small knowledge breaks down into the many.

- Chuang Tzu, from Allspirit

You are awareness. Awareness is another name for
you. Since you are Awareness there is no need to
attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is
to give up being aware of other things, that is of
not-self. If one gives up being aware of them then
pure awareness alone remains, and that is the
Self.

- Ramana Maharshi, from Allspirit

You are Emptiness, the Ultimate substance: remove
Emptiness out of Emptiness leaves only Emptiness
because there is nothing beyond It. All rises
from, dances about it, and returns to This. As
Ocean rises as a wave to dance so you are this
dancing Emptiness!

Nothing is out of this Emptiness and so it is the
Fullness. Emptiness is between is and is not. To
be Free, you need the firm conviction that you are
this Substratum, this Peace, this Emptiness.

- Papaji, from Allspirit

I sat there and forgot and forgot, until what
remained was the river
that went by and I who watched... Eventually the
watcher joined
the river and then there was only one of us. I
believe it was the river.

- Norman Maclean, quoted in Zen and the Brain,
James H.Austin M.D., from Allspirit

A man is wandering the marketplace at noon with a
candle
in his hand, totally ecstatic.

"Hey," calls a shopkeeper, "is this a joke? Who
are you
looking for?" "Someone breathing

Huu, the divine breath." "Well, there are plenty
to choose from." "But I want one who

can be in anger and desire and still be a true
human being in the same moment." "A rare thing!

But maybe you're searching among branches for what
appears only in the roots."

There's a river that turns these millstones. Human
will is an
illusion. Those who are proud

of deciding and carrying out decisions are the
rawest of
the raw! Watch

the thought-kettles boiling, then look down at the
fire.
God said to Job, "You

value your patience well. Consider now that I gave
you that
patience." Don't be absorbed

with the waterwheel's motion. Turn your head and
gaze
at the river. You say, "But

I'm looking there already." There are several
signs in eyes
that see all the way to

the ocean. Bewilderment is one. Those who study
foam and
flotsam near the edge

have purposes, and they'll explain them at length!
Those who
look out to sea become the sea,

and they can't speak about that. On the beach
there's desire-singing and rage-ranting,

the elaborate language-dance of personality, but
in the waves
and underneath there's no

volition, no hypocrisy,В just love forming
and unfolding.

- Rumi, In the Waves and Underneath, from
The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic
Poems by Coleman Barks

To divide and particularize is the mind's very
nature. There is no harm in dividing. But
separation goes against fact. Things and people
are different, but they are not separate. Nature
is one, reality is one. There are opposites, but
no opposition.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels

...everbody thinks that compassion is important,
and everyone has compassion. True enough, but the
Buddha gave uncommon quintessential instructions
when he taught the methods for cultivating
compassion, and the differences are
extraordinarily important.

- Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche:from Lectures on
Kamalashila's 'Stages of Meditation in the
Middle Way School, posted to DailyDharma

What are you, who are you, where is your heart?

If you really look, you won't find anything
tangible and solid. Of course, you might find
something very solid if you have a grudge against
someone or you have fallen possessively in love.

But that is not awakened heart. If you search for
awakened heart, if you put your hand through your
rib cage and feel for it, there is nothing there
except for tenderness. You feel sore and soft, and
if you open your eyes to the rest of the world,
you feel tremendous sadness. This kind of sadness
doesn't come from being mistreated. You don't feel
sad because someone has insulted you or because
you feel impoverished. Rather, this experience of
sadness is unconditioned. It occurs because your
heart is completely exposed. There is no skin or
tissue covering it; it is pure raw meat. Even if a
tiny mosquito lands on it, you feel so touched.
Your experience is raw and tender and so personal.

For the warrior, this experience of sad and tender
heart is what gives birth to fearlessness.
Conventionally, being fearless means that you are
not afraid or that, if someone hits you, you will
hit him back. However, we are not talking about
that street-fighter level of fearlessness. Real
fearlessness is the product of tenderness.

You are willing to open up, without resistance or
shyness, and face the world.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from Sacred Path
of the Warrior, posted to DailyDharma.

The law of the universe is cooperation and not
competition. It is not warfare. That is the law of
the universe, the total solidarity for which the
prayers of the ancient sages were directed in such
scriptures as the Vedas. The Rigveda concludes
with a prayer for universal cooperation,
collaboration not merely in a social manner, but
even in the field of thinking, in collective
aspiration and all activity.

For the liberated mind, death is realized as the
unknown potential from which has arisen the birth
and life itself. The event of death is seen as
just another moment in life, complete and unknown
until it arrives.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels

But at other times when you say I exist, you are
heading towards the perception of a non-state,
which is neither of the body nor of the mind. This
non-state is being, it is indeterminable, cannot
be located mentally or physically. It is neither a
thought nor a feeling. This non-state is identical
to that of your surroundings. You are of the very
same essence. In this non-state there are no
surroundings. If there is another, that is, if
there are surroundings, there is an I, and
vice-versa.

Our surroundings are not contained by name and
form. You are neither the body nor the mind, these
are limits you identify with through a lack of
clear-sightedness. When you are attentive to a
tree or flower, the perception, shape, name and
concept are not the only things present. There is
also the All-presence that you share with them and
that you are both part of. The very name and form
spring forth from this eternal background, the
All-presence. This is instantaneous awareness that
cannot be reached by thought.

- Jean Klein

Life is not a task. There is absolutely nothing to
attain except the realization that there is
absolutely nothing to attain.

- Tony Parsons, from As It Is - The Open
Secret of Spiritual Awakening, posted to
AlongTheWay

So be tender and be present and know that you ARE.
That's enough!!!! - Mark

Hikers watch an
annular eclipse from Papago Park in
Phoenix on Sunday, May 20, 2012.

В by
Michael Chow of the Associated
Press

В

В

В

Only in the absence of
the doer will you know what is to be done"

~Jean Klein

В

В

В

When your mind is
still, you have no name, you have no past,
you have no
relationships, you have no country, you have
no spiritual attainment, you have
no lack of spiritual attainment. There is
just the presence of beingness with
itself.В

В

~Gangaji

В

В

"You have so many
different methods to stop your thoughts. All
of these
methods are good to an extent. They make you
sort of one pointed, but they
will not stop your thoughts. This is why
people who have been practicing
pranayamas, breathing exercises, Vipassana
meditation, even Zen meditation,
and other forms of yoga meditation, have
been practicing for years, and
years, and years and years. Perhaps they
have achieved a semblance of peace,
but they have not become liberated, due to
the fact that they are using
methods, whether it is a koan, or it's
watching your breath or your feelings, or
whether it's changing your thoughts to
something positive, whatever you've
been doing, you're using your mind to do it.

В

And your mind will
always fool you. It will make you believe
you're getting
somewhere, you're becoming something great.
But it's really the ego. It is the
ego that is controlling the mind, and you
are the ego, the ego trying to control
the mind.

В

By not attaching
yourself to the thoughts, by not reacting to
the thoughts, by
not responding to the thoughts, they lose
their power and begin to fade away.
Yet do not give any energy. Do not give any
power. Do not say to yourself, "I
have to stop my thoughts." Do nothing like
this. Just slow down. Slow down.
Let the thoughts do what they may. Allow the
thoughts to go their own way. Do
nothing with your thoughts. Do not think
about them. Do not fight them. And
above all, do not try to stop them.

В

As you begin to let
your thoughts alone, not to pay any
attention to them, not
to be attached to them, you'll notice
something very interesting happening to
you. YouГўв¬вўll begin to notice that
you're becoming very peaceful, very calm.
You
become happy for no reason whatsoever. All
of these dastardly things are still
going on in this world, man's inhumanity to
man, you have your own so called
problems. Yet you become happy, you become
peaceful, you become blissful.
This comes all by itself, because your
thoughts have slowed down.

В

You have not slowed
your thoughts down. This is an important
point to
remember. You have not slowed your thoughts
down. Not you, whatsoever. For
you are the mind, and you have not used your
mind to slow down your thoughts.
You have done absolutely nothing, except to
ignore your thoughts. Ignore the
thoughts completely, totally, absolutely.
Again, do not fight your thoughts.
Ignoring your thoughts is not fighting your
thoughts. Do not try to change
your thoughts. Above all do not try to stop
your thoughts. Just do not be
attached to them, and ignore them.

В

The example here is,
what happens to your friends whom you
ignore? If you
have a friend and your friend is talking to
you, telling you things, and you
ignore your friend, what happens? The friend
will walk away. The friend will
go away and that will be the end of the
friend. He or she will no longer be
your friend, for you have ignored them
totally, completely. You have not
scolded them. You have not lectured your
friend. You have not been evil to
your friend. You have just ignored your
friend. Your friend will back away
and go away, because your friend gets no
response from you whatsoever.

В

It makes no difference
if the thoughts are good or bad, they're
both
impostors. In reality there are no good
thoughts, there are no bad thoughts.
We're not trying to replace bad thoughts for
good thoughts or good thought
for bad thoughts. We're trying to leave the
thoughts alone. Not to do a thing
about them. I want to make this perfectly
clear. This is the highest way to
handle your thoughts. When the thoughts slow
down, so does the ego. The
thoughts and the ego are synonymous. As the
thoughts slow down, the ego slows
down, and begins to also disappear with the
thoughts. When there are no
thoughts, thereГўв¬вўs no ego. When
thereГўв¬вўs no ego, thereГўв¬вўs nobody
left to think.

В

Many of you still
believe you have to have thoughts to
function. You think
you'll become a vegetable, but you will be
spontaneous without thoughts.
You'll be motivated by the self. You will
know what to do, where to go, whom
to speak to, whom not to speak to, much
better than you do now. Much, much
better. Things will happen to you
spontaneously.

В

Why do you want to do
all this? For life passes. Pretty soon you
become old,
and you appear to die. Do you want to
believe this lie, that you die, that you
get old, that there are problems in this
world? This is all a lie. It's the mortal
dream..."

В

В

В

Resting in the
Happening of this Moment: Being
What You Cannot Not Be

Spiritual practice (the pathless path from
here to here) boils down to something very
simple. Being present, awake, open. Resting
in the simplicity of what is. Being
what we cannot not be: the
happening of this moment, just as it is.

Even after all these years of meditation and
awakening and writing books and holding
meetings about nonduality, I still find
myself sometimes seemingly not resting and
opening, but instead resisting the happening
of this moment and trying to run away from
that primal sense of yukiness, unease,
restlessness, discontent, anxiety,
loneliness, depression, uncertainty,
emptiness ГвЂ however you want to
characterize it. Suddenly IГвЂm swept up
in some version of the story that IГвЂm
all alone in a meaningless void, that
IГвЂve ruined my life. There is the vague
and disturbing sense that IГвЂm drowning
in some horrible ickiness. I rush to the
bookcases looking for the right spiritual
book, or I turn on the TV and begin
mindlessly surfing through the channels, or
I get on the internet and begin reading
articles about things I donГвЂt even care
about. Or IГвЂm compulsively biting my
fingers and I feel more and more tightly
knotted up inside in a conflict between the
intense desire to stop biting and the
overwhelming urge to continue. I feel frozen
and stuck in a painful groove that I
canГвЂt escape, desperately seeking a way
out.

Eventually, it occurs to me to stop trying
to do (or not do) anything, to give up the
search for a solution or a distraction, to
simply be present, to allow
everything to be just exactly as it is.
Suddenly it becomes possible to completely
surrender to the actuality of Here / Now, to
resist nothing, not even the compulsive
biting of my fingers if that is what is
happening. Instantly, I feel the heart open.
This is the end of grasping and seeking, the
end of resisting and avoiding, the end of
trying to fix myself and be somebody else,
the end of trying to figure it all out or
get the right conceptual map nailed down.
This is not knowing anything and not needing
to know. Suddenly there is no problem
anymore. There is no me. There is only this
undivided, spacious presence that includes
everything, just as it is. Everything is
okay, even fingerbiting or feelings of
uneasiness or anxiety. Nothing needs to be
other than how it is, and when there is
complete openness to how it is, I find it is
no particular way at all. Everything is
moving and changing and dissolving. There is
a huge sense of relief. The problem was
imaginary.

And really, this is all there is to it. It
all boils down to the simplicity of what is.
Being here now, being present, being awake,
simply being.

When we dance, the
journey itself is the point, as when we play
music the
playing itself is the point. And exactly the
same thing is true in meditation.
Meditation is the discovery that the point of
life is always arrived at in the
immediate moment.

В

~Alan Watts

В

photo by Peter
Shefler

В

В

To be a saint is
to be fueled by gratitude, nothing more and
nothing less.

В

~Ronald Rolheiser

В

В

In A Dark Time

In a dark time,
the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing woodГўв¬вЂќ
A lord of nature weeping to a tree.
I live between the heron and the wren,
Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den.
What's madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall.
That place among the rocksГўв¬вЂќis it a
cave,
Or a winding path? The edge is what I have.

В

A steady storm of
correspondences!
A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon,
And in broad day the midnight come again!
A man goes far to find out what he isГўв¬вЂќ
Death of the self in a long, tearless night,
All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.

В

Dark, dark my
light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?
A fallen man, I climb out of my fear.
The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
And one is One, free in the tearing wind.

Soul of all souls, life of all life
you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving
you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head or feet
and you'll already be there.
What else could you be?В --
you are that.

В

~ Rumi

In the Arms of the Beloved
Translations by Jonathan Star
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1997
via Along The Way

В

В

Time is the eternal now seen
through the narrow slit of the mind.

~Rupert Spira

The Support and Substance of
Experience

If our attention were now to be drawn to the
screen on which these words are written, we
would experience the uncanny sensation of
suddenly becoming aware of something that we
simultaneously realise is so obvious as to
require no mention. And yet at the moment when
the screen is indicated, we seem to experience
something new.

We have the strangely familiar experience of
becoming aware of something which we were, in
fact, already aware of. We become aware of
being aware of the screen.

The screen is not a new experience that is
created by this suggestion. However, our awareness
of the screen seems to be a new
experience.

Now what about the Awareness itself, which is
aware of the screen? Is it not always present
behind and within every experience, just as
the screen is present behind and within the
words on this page?

THE SEARCHING ENDS NOW.В there is
nothing to find but what is. There is
nothing that needs to happen but what is
happening. There is nothing new to know that
will bring further revelation. There are so
many fascinating, moving, absorbing stories
which cannot yet be enjoyed, for they have
too much of the burden of redemption upon
them. Redemption is here, now, for there is
only here and now, and infinite immediate
possibility. You are not that small thing,
the constructed identity named Felicity or
Gerald, charged with the impossible tasks of
perfect life or perfect love. You are what
perfect life and perfect love emerges from;
simple knowing, pure being, absolute
awareness, bare sentience. That which looks,
looks for itself, and it is everywhere; it
is everything.

В

В

В

В

Scott Kiloby's Reflections of the
One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
can now be found on Fred Davis' Awakening
Clarity blog.В These 365 beautifully
clear pointers will be published seven at a
time, one for each day of the week, and will
be refreshed every Sunday.В Please
join us in welcoming Scott's generous gift
to our community.В

(This poem is from the 1993 book Into
The Mist. It is currently unavailable
online. In my next issue I'll be posting
more about this unknown Nova Scotia author
and more poems from her. Her writing
reminds me of folk art. She has some very
nice nondual feeling as well as you might
suspect.)

If we talk of knowing the Self,
there must be two selves, one a knowing self,
another the self which is known, and the process
of knowing. The state we call realisation is
simply being oneself, not knowing anything or
becoming anything. If one has realised, one is
that which alone is and which alone has always
been. One cannot describe that state. One can
only be that. Of course, we loosely talk of
Self-realisation, for want of a better term. How
to 'real-ise' or make real that which alone is
real?

- Sri Ramana Maharshi from Be As You Are -
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi,,
edited by David Godman, posted to AlongTheWay

You as the knower of the body and the mind are
apart from both. You as BEINGNESS are that which
always is, irrespective of body and mind.

We consider ourselves to be the presence only of
what we appear to be, but what we appear to be
is only the costume, the persona put on by what
lies underneath. We are the presence of an
absence we are unable to perceive and of which
we know nothing. So we call it a "void", and we
avoid it.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels

There is a silence between breaths

There is a silence between breaths
when the heart becomes a sacred flame
and the belly uncoils which reminds me
how remarkable it is to wake
beside you another day.

Between deaths we dreamed together
between breaths, in that stillness,
which has joined us ever since.

In that first breath
we step onto the dance floor,
and waltz unnoticed through the void.
The sacred everywhere we turn
and turn again, as form so generously dissolves
and only the Beloved remains.

In this moment which lasts a lifetime
there is nowhere to stand
where you are not beside me
where you do not accompany me within.

~ Stephen Levine, posted to allspirit

You are that vast thing
that you see far, far off
with great telescopes.

But we try to pretend, you
see, that the external
world exists altogether
independently of us.

You and I are all as much
continuous with the physical
universe as a wave is continuous
with the ocean.

You don't look out there for God,
something in the sky,
you look in you.

So then, the relationship of self to
other is the complete realisation
that loving yourself is impossible
without loving everything defined
as other than yourself.

- Alan Watts, posted to The_Now2

If you dare to give your heart, your soul, your
mind, your body, and your life, unconditionally,
to what you discover to be true, you will know
an infinitely deep and abiding peace that has
never been even a breath away.

This bliss, this tranquility depends on nothing,
and It is not capable of ending. Furthermore, it
doesn't make a bit of difference what you've
ever done... or not done. You can put an end to
the battle. Yes, that's correct, just walk right
out of the war, right now. All you have to do is
surrender, absolutely and completely, not to me,
not to some authority figure, or some
organization or institution, but surrender only
to your own deepest Purity.

God and your own Unbounded Love are not
different. If you truly give yourself up
completely, it will shock your whole system. It
will suddenly dawn on you,

"Oh my God, what a fool I've been! What was I
thinking?"

Then the absolute insanity of giving yourself to
anything else will become apparent. Why wait?
Why put off your own complete and total
liberation? In your innermost and outermost
places, in every single moment, Love waits for
you everywhere. Is there really something else
you would rather do? Is it possible that the
thing that you fear the most, the thing that you
avoid the most, is what you truly desire the
most? It cannot abandon you. Even if you choose
to ignore It, betray It and walk away, It is
always closer than your next breath. Suspend all
opinion and debate, and find out for yourself.

- Scott Morrison from There Is Only Now,
posted to The_Now2

Soul of all souls, life of all life
you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving
you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head or feet
and you'll already be there.
What else could you be? -
you are that.

- Rumi, translation by Jonathan Star, from In
the Arms of the Beloved, posted to
AlongTheWay

What you need will come to you if you do not ask
for what you do not need. Yet only few people
reach this state of complete dispassion and
detachment. It is a very high state, the very
threshold of liberation.

There shall be
eternal summer in the grateful heart.
~Celia Leighton Thaxter

В

В

It is a great relief to realize that in
this undivided happening, there is no
perfection apart from the imperfection, that
the light and the dark arise
together like the crest and trough of the
wave, that they cannot be pulled
apart, and to appreciate the holiness of
everything, exactly as it is, warts and
all. The firm conviction that I know
whatГўв¬вўs best for the universe seems
thankfully to be evaporating. And when it does
show up, it has more of an
endearing quality Гўв¬вЂњ oh look, there goes
Joan doing her little dance of concern
again.

В

From Joan Toliffson's forthcoming book
'Nothing to Grasp'.
For publication this summer by Non-Duality
Press.

Let your actions be like clouds going by;
the clouds going by are mindless.
Let your stillness be as the valley spirit;
the valley spirit is undying.
When action accompanies stillness and
stillness combines with action,
then the duality of action and stillness no
longer arises.
~Pei-chien

В

via Tony Cartledge

В

В

photo by Alan
Larus

В

В

A Place of Refuge

В

"Perhaps the most
important thing we bring to another person is
the silence in
us, not the sort of silence that is filled
with unspoken criticism or hard
withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a
place of refuge, of rest, of
acceptance of someone as they are. We are all
hungry for this other silence.
It is hard to find. In its presence we can
remember something beyond the
moment, a strength on which to build a life.
Silence is a place of great power
and healing."

Really there is
nothing to understand. Being what you really
are is happening;
that can not be stopped or started. What you
are is beyond all of this.
Nothing to work out any more perhaps; let the
fragrance of what you are
arise and dissolve any tendency to imagine you
are other than the essence of
all that IS.
~Jac O'Keeffe

I am writing from
the Coffee Company at Berenstraat 6 on a
beautiful sunny day in Amsterdam. Tomorrow I
leave for the Science and Nonduality
Conference in
Doorn.В BeforeВ departing Nova
Scotia, I discovered the poetry of a local
author whom I wish to introduce.

В

Here are some
poems from Into the Mist, by Marilyn
J. Dickinson. Thanks to my friend
Baxter Crocker for bringing this local author
to my attention.

В

Marilyn
J.Dickinson writes:В A native of
Halifax Nova Scotia, I have В been
writing since childhood. Initially the books
were print only but as years passedВ I
addedВ my photography . The
booksВ all self published in limited
numbers. JourneyВ , Into The Mist ,A
Hunger Within, Garden Thoughts, Simple
Prayers, Bits & Pieces, The Journey,
plus several privately commissioned
personalized books. My writing has been
influenced by a search for spiritual
awakening beyond childhood teachings. Seeing
how being in tune with all that surrounds
one and listening to the journeys taken by
others has given me teachings I am then able
to share in words. In the past several years
I have combined my photography and writings
into yearly calendars. The journey continues
and no doubt will forever.

There is no need
to struggle to be free; the absence of
struggle is in itself freedom."
~Chogyam Trungpa

В

В

В

В

There is no good
and no evil. In every concrete situation
there is only the
necessary and the unnecessary. The needful
is right, the needless is wrong.
The situation decides.В

В

Every situation
is a challenge whichВ demands the
right response. When theВ
response is right, the challenge is
metВ and the problem ceases. If the
response is wrong, the challenge is not met
and the problem remains unsolved.
Your unsolved problems - that is whatВ
constitutes your karma. Solve them
rightly and be free.

Many people know
that in 1971 Daniel Ellsberg, an American
military analyst
who Henry Kissinger dubbed Гўв¬Еthe most
dangerous man in America,Гўв¬Вќ leaked the
Pentagon Papers, an act that became one of the
most decisive catalysts in
ending the Vietnam War. But what many people
donГўв¬вўt know is that EllsbergГўв¬вўs
decision to release the papers was, in part, a
consequence of his conversations
with the Zen Buddhist poet Gary Snyder in
Japan more than a decade earlier.
Read the story:

People often have
the impression that a non-dual teaching is
telling them to
stop participating in life.

В

They hear someone
describe the fact that if you rest, and make
no attempt to
do anything, you may discover that everything
is happening spontaneously.
From this, they get the impression itГўв¬вўs
saying you should always attempt to do
nothing.

В

Actually,
itГўв¬вўs just the opposite. The act of
resting may reveal that everything,
including you, is the automatic functioning of
something youГўв¬вўre not creating. To
realize this does not leave us with any option
of dropping out; it reveals that
everything we are is compelled.

В

ItГўв¬вўs not
possible to stop participating in life because
everything we are is the
expression of life. We donГўв¬вўt exist as
anything standing outside of existence.
Our desires are the expression of nature. As
Schopenhauer so succinctly put
it, long ago, Гўв¬ЕYou can do what you want,
but you canГўв¬вўt create your wants.Гўв¬Вќ

В

Right now, if you
love art and are not fond of science, you
canГўв¬вўt snap your
fingers and have the opposite be true. You
donГўв¬вўt create your needs, interests,
or concerns and they are the foundation of
your participation.

В

Your wants
arenГўв¬вўt your wants at all;
theyГўв¬вўre natureГўв¬вўs urge to express
itself in
constantly unique ways. No two apparent
expressions of existence are ever
identical. Ultimately a non-dual teaching
canГўв¬вўt recommend any particular way
of behaving, because itГўв¬вўs the
realization that each of us is unique.

В

ItГўв¬вўs not
offering the possibility of choosing to
participate in life. ItГўв¬вўs pointing
out the fact that there is only the flow of
life. And your expression will be a
surprise.

Light will someday
split you open;
even if your life is now a cage...
Love will surely burst you wide open
into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy.

В

~ Hafiz Shirazi

В

photo by Alan
Larus

В

В

photo by Alan Larus

В

В

A certain bird
sits in this tree. The delight of life is
where
it dances.
Nobody knows where the bird is, nor what all
this music means.

В

.......

В

Kabir says: You
brother, you seeker, this whole thing is a
great mystery.
Tell all the wise men it would be a good thing
to
know where this bird spends the night.

В

~Kabir

В

В

The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast -
Downward,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.

В

Tree you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child - so high - you are,
And all this is folly to the world.

В

~ Ezra Pound

В

Can You Imagine?
В
For example, what the trees do
not only in lightening storms
or the watery dark of a summer's night
or under the white nets of winter
but now, and now, and now - whenever
we're not looking.В Surely you can't
imagine
they don't dance, from the root up, wishing
to travel a little, not cramped so much as
wanting
a better view, or more sun, or just as avidly
more shade - surely you can't imagine they
just
stand there loving every
minute of it, the birds or the emptiness, the
dark rings
of the years slowly and without a sound
thickening, and nothing different unless the
wind,
and then only in its own mood, comes
to visit, surely you can't imagine
patience, and happiness, like that.
В
~ Mary Oliver
В
В
(Long Life)
Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Can_You_Imagine.html

Perhaps the most important thing we
bring to another person is the silence in us.
Not the sort of silence that is filled with
unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort
of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest,
of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all
hungry for this other silence. It is hard to
find. In its presence we can remember something
beyond the moment, a strength on which to build
a life. Silence is a place of great power and
healing. Silence is God's lap.

Many things grow the silence in us, among them
simply growing older.

We may then become more a refuge than a rescuer,
a witness to the process of life and the wisdom
of acceptance.

A highly skilled AIDS doctor once told me that
she keeps a picture of her grandmother in her
home and sits before it for a few minutes every
day before she leaves for work. Her grandmother
was an Italian-born woman who held her family
close. Her wisdom was of the earth. Once when
Louisa was very small, her kitten was killed in
an accident. It was her first experience of
death and she had been devastated. Her parents
had encouraged her not to be sad, telling her
that the kitten was in heaven now with God.
Despite these assurances, she had not been
comforted. She had prayed to God, asking Him to
give her kitten back. But God did not respond.

In her anguish she had turned to her grandmother
and asked, "Why?" Her grandmother had not told
her that her kitten was in heaven as so many of
the other adults had. Instead, she had simply
held her and reminded her of the time when her
grandfather had died. She, too, had prayed to
God, but God had not brought Grandpa back. She
did not know why. Louisa had turned into the
soft warmth of her grandmother's shoulder then
and sobbed. When finally she was able to look
up, she saw that her grandmother was crying,
too.

Although her grandmother could not answer her
question, a great loneliness had gone and she
felt able to go on. All the assurances that
Peaches was in heaven had not given her this
strength or peace. "My grandmother was a lap,
Rachel," she told me, "a place of refuge. I know
a great deal about AIDS, but what I really want
to be for my patients is a lap. A place from
which they can face what they have to face and
not be alone."

Taking refuge does not mean hiding from life. It
means finding a place of strength, the capacity
to live the life we have been given with greater
courage and sometimes even with gratitude.

Compassion is not a relationship between the
healer and the wounded. It's a relationship
between equals. Only when we know our own
darkness well can we be present with the
darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when
we recognize our shared humanity.

- Pema ChГѓВΆdrГѓВΆn, The Places That Scare
You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult
Times

If you approach others with the thought of
compassion, then that will automatically reduce
fear and allow openness with other people. It
creates a positive, friendly atmosphere. With
that attitude, you can approach a relationship
in which you, yourself, initially create the
possibility of receiving affection or a positive
response from the other person. And with that
attitude, even of the other person is unfriendly
or doesn't respond to you in a positive way,
then at least you've approached the person with
a feeling of openness that gives you a certain
flexibility and the freedom to change your
approach as needed.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The intelligent way of working with emotions is
to try to relate to their basic substance, the
abstract quality of the emotion, so to speak.
The basic `isness' quality of the emotions, the
fundamental nature of the emotions is just
energy. And if one is able to relate with
energy, then the energies have no conflict with
you. They become a natural process... When there
is no panic involved in dealing with the
emotions, then you can deal with them
completely, properly. Then you are like someone
who is completely skilled in his profession, who
does not panic, but just does his work
completely, thoroughly.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Generally, when the idea of ego is presented,
the immediate reaction is to regard it as a
villain, an enemy. You feel you must destroy
this ego, this me, which is a masochistic and
suicidal approach. But true spirituality is not
a battle; it is the ultimate practice of
non-violence. We are not regarding any part of
us as being a villain, an enemy, but we are
trying to use everything as part of the natural
process of life.

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing-art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like the edge of driftwood
along the beach, wanting and wanting!

They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.

That city will be no more, no halos
of spring mornings when green hills
tremble in the mist and rise
like barrage balloons -

and May won't cross its streets
with shrieking birds and summer's promises.
No breathless spells,
no chilly ecstasies of springwater.

Church towers rest on the ocean's floor,
and flawless views of leafy avenues
fix no one's eyes.

And still we live on calmly,
humbly - from suitcases,
in waiting rooms, on airplanes, trains,

and still, stubbornly, blindly, we seek an
image,
the final form of things
between inexplicable fits
of mute despair -

as if vaguely remembering
something that cannot be recalled,
as if that submerged city were travelling with
us,
always asking questions,

and always unhappy with our answers -
exacting and perfect in its way.

- Adam Zagajewski from Eternal Enemies,
posted to The_Now2

Four Questions:

Who is awake and who asleep?

What is this lake that is continually
oozing back into the earth?

What can a human being offer to God?

What do we most deeply want?

The Answers:

The mind is what sleeps.
What recognizes itself
as God is awake.

This always-disappearing lake
is made of our appetites,
these movings-about,
this talking and listening.

The only offering you can make to God
is your increasing awareness.

And the last desire is
to be God in human form.

- Lalla, posted to AlongTheWay

Before entering the Holy of Holies you must take
off your shoes, and not only your shoes but
everything, your travelling-clothes and your
baggage, and beneath that your nakedness, and
everything hidden beneath that, and then the
core and the core of the core, then what is left
and then the rest and then the light from the
imperishable fire.

- Franz Kafka, posted to allspirit

-22 - Time's drivers, that we are.
Its repetitious pace
is all but effaced
in what endures forever.

All which is hurrying
soon will reach conclusion.
Only the everlasting
gives consecration.

Youth, do not waste your clout
on the rigors of flight,
leave trials of speed forsook.

All these things at last play out:
darkness and brilliant light,
flower and book.

- Rainer Maria Rilke, from The Sonnets to
Orpheus, translation by Robert Hunter

XXVII I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there 's a pair of us - don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

- Emily Dickinson from The Poems of Emily
Dickinson

Of Kingdoms

'I like to dream of those dead kingdoms' -Su
Tung-P'o

I like to dream of those kingdoms
where brass glitters and sings,
and fires flame upward on the hilltops.
and someone's love dwells in them.
Later afternoon, in Novemeber,
I travel by commuter train
after a long walk;
around me are tired office workers
and a mournful old lady
clutching a dachshund.
The conductor, alas,
makes an awkward shaman.
Life strides over us like Gulliver,
loudly laughing and crying.

- Adam Zagajewski from Eternal Enemies,
posted to The_Now2

As soon as you clear your hearing

the voice of a saviour
will shortly be heard
as soon as you
clear your hearing

don't drink now
this polluted water
the elixir of life
will soon arrive

if you desire grace
lose your selfish self
till you can taste
the sweet essence

in the blackest
of your moments
wait with no fear

since the water of life
was found by the prophet
in the darkest caverns

On June 3, 2012
The Nonduality Highlights turned 13 years old.
We hope youВ
will put up with our adolescence. We are
already known to skip days and turnВ
in our homework late. (mea culpa) Even now,
Jerry is away in Europe attending
some conference about Science and something or
other and hanging out with
allВ those cool kids whose names you
have read here. However, we hear rumors
thisВ is like some days long party
behind the scenes. Jerry is "too busy" to
writeВ much. I took a peek, and you
should see the fancy place where they
areВ
meeting. http://www.landgoedzonheuvel.nl/en

В

Things sure have
come a longВ way from the early days,
when people would
drop by the Nonduality SalonВ and ask
what the heck is nonduality because
they never heard of it. Much hasВ
changed, and there are now so many people
talking about this stuff, we canВ hardly
keep up with the all the new kids on
the block. But we try. Jerry willВ send a
letter homeВ from camp any day
now.В

В

With love, Gloria

PS. Thanks to each
andВ every one who has contributed over
the years.

Thank you all for
opening your hearts and minds to share the
journey.

В

В

В

The flute of
interior time plays,
whether we hear it or not.
What we mean by love is its sound coming in.

В

~ Robert Bly, Book
of Kabir

В

В

В

В

photo by Alan Larus

В

"With even a little intuitive wisdom, we will
then be able to see clearly
through the ways of the world. We will come to
understand that everything in
the world is a teacher. Trees and vines, for
example, can all reveal the true
nature of reality. With wisdom there is no
need to question anyone, no need to
study. We can learn from nature enough to be
enlightened"

Tonight the
Tiger's out to hunt,
the truth so rare to face as blunt
But sharpened on a grinding stone
by this alone, by self alone
To such a task let me be tied,
the finding uncleft by divide
.

~ Alan Larus

В

В

В

Shodoka (Song of
Freedom)

В

Here comes Mr.
Natural, at ease as you please, walking the
Talk by keeping
quiet and letting his feet do the speaking,
not running toward or away, just
walking on.

В

The essence of
confusion and wisdom is identical, this dusty
skin bag is LightГўв¬вўs
own body!

В

When we finally
see how things really are, what words can we
muster to
describe nothing?

В

We all share the
same original innocence, thatГўв¬вўs why the
truth is so true.

В

Thoughts and
sensations change like the weather -- the
night sky doesnГўв¬вўt
complain when the stars come out.

В

When we eventually
sober up a little, concepts like me and mine,
self and
other, past and future no longer have the
juice to intoxicate us.

В

Even thatГўв¬вўs
a tale Гўв¬вЂњ really, nothing happens.

В

See for yourself!
Once we open our eyes, everything is obvious.

В

In the dream,
thereГўв¬вўs plenty of drama. When we
awaken, where does it all go?

В

Ups and downs,
profit and loss Гўв¬вЂњ none of it can touch
our immaculate peace.

В

WeГўв¬вўve all
heard about polishing the mirror, but wait,
look directly Гўв¬вЂњ there is
no mirror. ThatГўв¬вўs what I call clean!

В

Who am I? If
IГўв¬вўm truly neither this nor that,
IГўв¬вўm this and that too.

В

Ask a corpse to
explain itself! How can we find ourselves by
searching outside
ourselves?

В

Give up the
struggle Гўв¬вЂњ relax.

В

Everything
changes. When we resist, we suffer. What more
do you need to
know?

В

Recognizing and
understanding the intimate relationship
between what changes
and what doesnГўв¬вўt is wisdom; actualizing
it is love.

В

If you
donГўв¬вўt agree, it doesnГўв¬вўt matter.
Life clarifies itself.

В

Even being in
opposition is not being in opposition.
ItГўв¬вўs all one thing! No, not
even that! ItГўв¬вўs easy, donГўв¬вўt
worry!

В

WeГўв¬вўre lived
by mystery, empty and marvelous Гўв¬вЂњ
donГўв¬вўt try to figure out
perfection with mind, just rest in it, in
harmony, surrendered, released of any
complication.

В

Beyond fear and
desire, just be.

В

Just BE.

В

The wise
donГўв¬вўt linger in concepts, regrets,
plans, or frowns.

В

In this way,
theyГўв¬вўre like children Гўв¬вЂњ clinging
to nothing, rejecting nothing.

В

Since there is no
other, they go on their way, unnoticed. Since
everyone is
inherently free, theyГўв¬вўre inconspicuous
in their absence.

В

Truth is simple
and open to all. Those who understand may not
be rich, but
theyГўв¬вўre happy.

В

What better gift
to share than oneГўв¬вўs own original
beauty?

В

To earnest
seekers, all self-images are like tattered old
costumes that never
quite fit. They appreciate the naked freedom
of their own unself-conscious
nature Гўв¬вЂњ theyГўв¬вўve got nothing to
prove.

В

People say all
sorts of things, but whatГўв¬вўs prior to
the first word? Let them say
what they will Гўв¬вЂњ the extent of any
reactivity is a good test of true equanimity.

В

To become a
natural human being, donГўв¬вўt linger in
any provisional state or get
bogged down in beliefs.

В

This is actually
the way of things Гўв¬вЂњ fluid, dynamic,
non-dwelling.

В

Most get
frightened when they contemplate their own
impermanence, but a
rare one now and then wakes up laughing in the
midst of the dream.

Non-dwelling is
living without limits, without borders,
without chains. Grasping
at any experience, concept, strategy, or
identity is nothing but an amnesiacГўв¬вўs
fantasy games.

В

Some long for the
marriage of heaven and earth, yet who has the
peace of
mind to contemplate the mutual penetration of
the known and the unknown
within the sphere of ordinary activity?

В

Natural and
spontaneous, it proceeds without delay or
impediment, granting
the universe the power to exist. Past,
present, and future are included in one
glance, all emerges from one mysterious
gesture, thrives, dissolves Гўв¬вЂњ ecstasy!

В

What says, "I am"?
It's not mind, a teaching, or a word Гўв¬вЂњ
right here, before
the tongue moves!

В

No praise, no
blame, eternally serene. No way to it, no way
out of it. The only
stubborn obstacle -- our pretense of self.

В

The only recourse:
understanding and discarding that fiction.

В

See through that
one, and all is understood. The one and the
all are not
different Гўв¬вЂњ only appearances blind us
to whatГўв¬вўs what.

В

Just keep walking
Гўв¬вЂњ if anyone asks directions, point to
the heart. Yours and
theirs are not two. Looking elsewhere,
itГўв¬вўs completely missed.

В

I hail from a long
line of jugglers who toss batons of existence
and
non-existence in a teeming carnival of
ineffable light.

В

Don't ask me what
I know Гўв¬вЂњ I just work here. When I
jettison everything I
think I know, I just might become honest and
genuine.

В

The Real is direct
and immediate Гўв¬вЂњ that's why it's so
easily missed. Still, why
complain? That only compounds the
befuddlement. Just be grateful -- without
reason. Gratitude itself is reason enough!

В

Nothing is as it
appears. Whatever appears, I am not. Nor am I
any different.

В

If this is not
comprehended, the dream goes on. If this is
comprehended, the
dream still goes on. Let's be clear Гўв¬вЂњ
the dream never ends, only the dreamer
disappears.

В

For years I tried
to figure it out, with efforts mounted against
the wind.
Finally, I gave up the struggle. Now the
breeze blows through me.

Anamika and I attended the Science and
Nonduality Conference 2012 in Doorn, Holland
this past weekend along with about 250 other
nondual types of people from all backgrounds
and interests, from Thijs, a charming young
seeker who wore broken glasses to a man from
India who happened to be the inventer of the
super computer. There were teachers such as
Jeff Foster, Unmani, and Rupert Spira who
reminded us to stand as awareness and others
who brought people to tears by means of their
openness alone.

There were many young people, those under 40.
They are simply curious, or studying for
advanced degrees, or working in a field whose
expansion requires a knowledge of nonduality.

The movie Kumare was a heartfelt
experience for everyone. It is about an Indian
man who impersonates a guru and attracts a
loyal following. His attachment to them is
genuine but his persona is false. In the end
he must expose his true identity. The story is
full of reality and warmth. I think anyone at
the conference would recommend it highly.
After the movie and during the following day
many were talking about the movie.

But that wasn't the end of the fake guru
drama. On Saturday morning the guru Madhukar
was scheduled to talk. Afterward, Zaya
Benazzo, one of the organizers of the
conference, said that she understood Madhukar
abused a number of women. Madhukar handled the
situation as coolly as possible. What actually
transpired may one day be available on video.
The interaction was powerful and direct and
shows that the SAND conference, and nonduality
such as we know it, has a built-in way of
weeding out those are are not making a genuine
attempt to come from a state of presence.

As with any other conference, so much valuable
interaction happens in the lobbies, the bar in
the basement, outside on the winding paths
through the countrside. The feeling of
community here in Holland was very strong,
maybe ever more so than the California
conferences, and that's saying a lot.

I also want to mention the entertainment.
David Ellzey is a brilliantly funny and
poignant mime who touched us and made us laugh
with stories he wove using skills that stunned
the audience. Watch David here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3_rP74VLUoВ

Jarrah was unbelievable. Here she is peforming
at a Gangaji retreat:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfA76XFneXk
В
She's the only singer songwriter I know who
can write nondual lyrics and not sound
contrived, corny, or overly spiritual.

There was a duo who played the cello and a
harp and they received a standing ovation from
the large audience. I don't have their name
handy, however.

Maya Gheiman also did a Hang (drum)
performance that was hugely enjoyed.

DJ Shanto took us into party mode with great
dance sounds.

There was so much more, more movies, Puppetji,
singing and art classes, Yoga with Ellen
Emmet. Dozens of speakers of fine quality and
many of them younger than we typically see.

An important event was the World Cafe led by
the Dutch writer, educator, entertainer, Paul
Smit. World Cafe is a method for facilitating
conversation. The event was so well received
that Maurizio Benazzo, the primary organizer
and charismatic leader of SAND, thought that
the California SAND could begin and end each
day with a World Cafe, which would allow
attendees to intimately discuss and explore
burning questions of the day.

Finally I want to mention a few of the awesome
and beautiful people with whom I spent some
one-on-one time: Annamarie de Haan, Odd Ness,
Kelly Kilrae, Jeff Foster, Thijs, Kees, Vera
de Chalambert, Danny,
Rupert, Unmani, Peter Fenner, Paul Smit, Gino
Yu who crashed on our couch one night, Pamela
Wilson (who I wish crashed on our couch one
night), Sophia, James Murray, Tim Freke, David
Ellzey, Liesbeth, Nick Day, Julian Noyce from
Non-Duality Press, Susan Blackmore, Jeannie
MacGillvary, Florian, Madhukar, Isaac Shapiro,
Menno, everyone at my World Cafe tables, Hans
Tibbe the photographer who was more than a
photographer; he kept an unnoticed presence,
but I noticed, And there were so many others
but I didn't get everyone's name so I'm sorry.

Mostly I have to thank Anamika who did
everything to make my trip exciting and
worthwhile. She picked me up at the airport,
allowed me to stay in her flat, showed me
around Amsterdam and part of Holland, and
shared meals with me at the conference. You
can get to know Anamika through her blog at http://noname-allthereis.blogspot.nl/

But the event could not have happened without
the leadership and organizational power of
Maurizio and Zaya and especially Menno who
organized the volunteer team which was tight
and flawless. Finally, what a great hotel! And
the food was excellent. The food in Holland is
impressive. Wherever you eat you will say how
good it is.В I can't wait until next
year. I urge everyone to attend and to visit
Amsterdam and Holland.